Toronto has a rich arts community with fantastic museums and galleries to explore. If you have some time to disappear, there are also many attractions to discover right in the downtown core. There is also no shortage of eclectic neighborhoods with trendy shops, cozy cafés, and upscale boutiques.
Centrally Located Attractions
Air Canada Centre
40 Bay Street
www.theaircanadacentre.com
416.815.5500
One of Toronto's premiere event venues, the Air Canada Centre is foremost the host of Toronto's hockey and basketball teams, the Maple Leafs and the Raptors, as well as the for the city's professional lacrosse team, the Rock. The Air Canada Centre is also a popular concert venue. For tickets and information, contact Ticketmaster Canada at 416.870.8000 or visit their website at www.ticketmaster.ca.
Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas Street West
www.ago.net
416.979.6648
The Art Gallery of Ontario, or the AGO, is Toronto's largest art gallery. With an impressive permanent collection with pieces ranging from Renaissance to Rothko, and with a large collection by Canadian artists, the Group of Seven, the AGO also hosts many notable touring or temporary exhibits.
Bata Shoe Museum
327 Bloor St. West
www.batashoemuseum.ca
416.979.7799
The Bata Shoe Museum houses 10,000 shoes within four impressive galleries, celebrating the style and function of footwear. Artifacts on exhibit range from Chinese bound foot shoes and ancient Egyptian sandals to chestnut crushing clogs and glamourous platforms. Over 4,500 years of history and a collection of 20th century celebrity shoes are reflected in the semi-permanent exhibition, All About Shoes.
CN Tower
301 Front Street
www.cntower.ca
416.360.8500
As the world's tallest free-standing structure, the CN Tower is the distinguishing edifice of Toronto's skyline. The tower features the award-winning 360 Restaurant on its main revolving observation deck. The tower also has several family attractions, like the glass floor at 113 stories above ground, a visit to the Sky Pod at 144 stories and a film on the construction of the tower.
Casa Loma
1 Austin Terrace
www.casaloma.org
416.923.1171
Built in the early 1900's, Casa Loma is one of the country's best known (and only) castles, and certainly a unique attraction in Toronto's urban core. The former home of Sir Henry Pellat, Casa Loma features stables, towers, underground tunnels and five-acre gardens.
Design Exchange
234 Bay Street
www.dx.org
416.216.2140
Housed in Toronto's original stock exchange, the Design Exchange is a museum of notable pieces spanning from interior and fashion design to architectural and industrial design to graphic and media design. The building is as interesting as the exhibits themselves, with many of its original elements remaining, such as the old trading floor and the art deco façade.
The Distillery District
55 Mill Street
www.thedistillerydistrict.com
416.364.1177
The Distillery District is one of Toronto's newly rejuvenated attractions. Built in the mid-nineteenth century as the Gooderham brothers' distillery, the area is now pedestrian-only and home to several galleries, restaurants, shops and cafes. A popular location for movie shoots, Chicago and X-Men among them, and relatively close to downtown, a walk around the Distillery District would make an enjoyable afternoon stroll.
Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art
111 Queen's Park
www.gardinermuseum.on.ca
416.586.8080
Boasting a collection of almost 3,000 pieces, the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art is the only museum in Canada devoted exclusively to ceramics. Highlights include ancient American, early European and Italian Renaissance pieces. After undergoing extensive, multimillion-dollar renovations in 2005, the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art will reopen in early 2006.
Harbourfront Centre
235 Queen's Quay West
www.harbourfront.com
416.973.4000
The Harbourfront Centre and Queens Quay is a 10 acre site that attracts over 12 million visitors each year. It showcases works in contemporary visual arts, crafts, literature, music, dance and theatre, as well as featuring shops, restaurants and two marinas.
For information on habourfront tours and charters, click here. http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/noflash/outdoor/links.php
Hockey Hall of Fame
30 Yonge Street
www.hhof.com
416.360.7765
Located in the architectural-award winning BCE Place, the Hockey Hall of Fame is an interactive museum for hockey fans of any age. Visitors can test their shots against wooden goaltenders, sit in a replica dressing room, call play-by-plays for game footage and get their picture taken with the sport's most famed trophy, the Stanley Cup.
Ontario Place (Seasonal: May-Oct)
Lakeshore Blvd. West
www.ontarioplace.com
416.314.9900
Ontario Place is an internationally acclaimed cultural, leisure and entertainment parkland located on three man-made islands along the Lake Ontario waterfront. Ontario Place has been in operation for over 30 years, and features a five pod pavilion complex, The Forum, pedal boats, a marina, restaurants, rides, shows and the world's first permanent IMAX® theatre, the Cinesphere.
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
www.rom.on.ca
416.586.8000
The Royal Ontario Museum, or ROM, features millions of pieces in countless galleries. Some of the museum's highlights are its dinosaur collection, artifacts from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, a bat cave and many interactive exhibits suitable for family visits. The ROM is expected to fully reopen after a period of renovations in late 2005, having been the subject of an extensive and highly publicized architectural redesign.
Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome)
1 Blue Jays Way
www.rogerscentre.com
416.341.3663
Located at the foot of the CN Tower, the Rogers Centre is home to the Toronto's professional baseball and football teams, the Blue Jays and the Argonauts. Seating more than 65,000 at full capacity, the Rogers Centre features a fully retractable roof and is home to a hotel and four restaurants each with seating that overlooks the field.
The Second City Mainstage Theatre
51 Mercer Street
www.secondcity.com
416.343.0011
The Second City is a theatre that has been specializing in sketch comedy for over 30 years. Comedy legends such as Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Martin Short and Mike Myers all got there start at The Second City in Toronto.
St. Lawrence Market
92 Front Street
www.stlawrencemarket.com
416.392.7219
According to Food & Wine magazine, the St. Lawrence Market is one of the top 25 markets in the world. Since 1803, this site has been home to dozens of regional farmers and vendors known for the quality and selection of fresh produce, meat, cheese, fish and baked goods.
Toronto Islands
Toronto Island Ferry information: 416.392.8193
http://www.toronto.ca/parks/island/index.htm
The Toronto Islands are a series of islands with the most popular being Hanlan’s Point, Ward’s Island and Centre Island. The Toronto Islands are basically a 230.388 hectare park run by Metro Parks and Culture. They feature fully accessible washrooms, a public marina, an amusement area and petting zoo, and the establishment of naturalized areas and wildlife reserves. Ferrys run on a regular schedule to and from the islands.
Attractions Outside the Downtown Core
Black Creek Pioneer Village
www.blackcreek.ca
McMichael Art Gallery
www.mcmichael.com
Ontario Science Centre
www.ontariosciencecentre.ca
Paramount Canada's Wonderland (Seasonal: May-Oct)
www.canadas-wonderland.com
Toronto Zoo
www.torontozoo.com
